IC contact [Mask or Menace]

[infomodder]

"Gone fishing."

[ so don't leave messages to ruin the after fishing glow !!!

your one stop shop for not leaving him alone ]

Comments

[khajidont]

You got kind of a justice system theme going on huh?

I'm not really sure. This was only supposed to take a week but it's already taking a little longer than we thought. Probably cause none of us have been on a proper road trip before

[Kids.]

[infomodder]

It's more about the people involved than the premises, to be honest.

Sounds like you're doing a proper road trip right now.

[Oh, to be young again. The thrill of adventure. Wasting time chasing cars...oh, to be a dog.]

[khajidont]

I actually didn't know a bunch of them before we decided to spend the next 24/7 in a car together but they all turned out to be pretty cool so. I guess we're road tripping right!

Which mostly seems to mean being in the middle of nowhere? Plus this shop REALLY wants my money

[They will not be disappointed; he's buying, like, five.]

[infomodder]

Just don't take any wooden nickels, pick up any scraggly hitchhikers, and always make sure whoever's driving is in good condition.

[Because it's more important that whoever's driving both knows how to drive and is in a good frame of mind for that. No booze, no drugs, no sleepiness. Even if that means the only person up to driving doesn't have a license.

So basically Jaime should be driving most of this, tbh.]

[khajidont]

Okay the second and the third thing make sense to me but what's with the wooden nickel thing? It sounds very ghost storyish

[But Will! Jaime driving would be illegal!]

[infomodder]

It's just another way of saying don't let yourself get cheated. Don't buy any bridges, and all that.
I don't think there's a definitive origin for it, but I've heard it all my life.
Suppose the ghost story is that whoever started it is very very dead now.

[Let Khaji do it.]

[khajidont]

Oh. Yeah okay we'll avoid being cheated unless you mean cheated out of eight dollars for a dumb cup

You do much road tripping? If that's even a verbable word

[Well, 'verbable' isn't a word.]

[infomodder]

Not since I was a teenager.
Just been around long enough to hear stories and know that some people aren't always kind to travelers if they think it'll make them an easy buck.

[It is a word now, Jaime.]

[khajidont]

Maybe you should give it a shot. Have you explored much of this world beyond the porter cities? Like your hometown or anything?

[infomodder]

Freddie and I drove to Minnesota back in January. I've done some work at a couple of marinas nearby, and found various places to fish, but that's about it.
I'm not interested in the cities I used to know.

[khajidont]

Too weird for you? I know I thought it was pretty strange when I went back to El Paso

Surreal

[He sends that one as a separate text, because he just remembered the word. It's the only way to describe it, really.]

[infomodder]

Surreal, exactly.
Don't wanna go back to any of my old homes and find used hovercar dealerships or sewage plants or donut shops or apartment complexes or landfills or cemeteries or whatever else.
It's too personal.

[khajidont]

Yeah that makes sense. I've got some friends from a place called San Franokyo because apparently the Japanese community is super huge where they're from? They're checking out San Francisco for the first time. It's gonna be super weird for them

[infomodder]

That sounds weird for me to think about, and I've never even been to San Francisco.
Clever way to name it, though.
Kudos to them if they can handle that sort of weird.

[khajidont]

We'll see if they can or not. It's worth checking out and besides I like San Francisco

[infomodder]

You're going along with them, then?

[khajidont]

Yup. I think everyone in the whole group's going

[infomodder]

That's good.
Maybe you've found the secret to avoiding some of the messes that happen around here.
Just go on a road trip.

[khajidont]

That's what a buddy of mine wound up doing while that infection came around.

I wonder why more of us don't just move away completely. It's not like there are laws against it

[infomodder]

Solidarity
A sense of belonging
Makes it easier to know who's who
Makes it easier to start or end something when we're in clusters
List goes on and on.

[khajidont]

I guess that was a stupid question huh? It's not like I'd move

[infomodder]

Not a stupid question.
I'd have left if I didn't come here and realize that there were already people I knew around.
And then I was lucky enough to find April.
I can't move to a shack in the middle of a swamp to grow one of those beards NOW

[khajidont]

You could always drag her to a swamp shack and see if she wants to grow an amazing beard too

Wait April's your girlfriend?

[infomodder]

I don't think she can grow a beard, but I'll see if she'd like to make an attempt.

Wife. We took a vacation to Puerto Rico in May and made it official.

[khajidont]

WHAT???